§ Mr. BurgonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to publish a draft of the UK strategy for radioactive discharges. [127623]
§ Mr. MeacherA draft of the strategy is being published for consultation today and copies are being placed in the Library.
The strategy demonstrates how the UK is going to achieve substantial and progressive reductions in radioactive discharges in the period to 2020, in order to fulfil the obligation entered into at the 1998 meeting of the OSPAR Commission.
Comments on the draft are invited. After taking accounts of the comments we receive, the Government intend to publish a final version of the strategy towards the end of the year. The Government will shortly publish a draft of guidance they intend to issue to the Environment Agency on the setting of radioactive discharge authorisations. The intention is that the guidance, when it is formally issued with the final version of the strategy, will ensure that discharge authorisations are consistent with the strategy.
The Government are determined to continue the downward pressure of radioactive discharges. This draft strategy marks a further step towards meeting our OSPAR commitments. We owe it to the future generations to get it right.